War may feel both distant and close to our younger generation. We’ve all heard tales from our grandparents about the “three years and eight months,” but even many of us might not know what an air-raid shelter looks like. Transport for London, in collaboration with the London Transport Museum, has opened up a WWII air-raid shelter located beneath Clapham Common in the district of Clapham South to the public.
This air-raid shelter is said to have been built in 1940 and is the best-preserved among the eight such shelters from that era. Even the bunk beds and signage remain intact. All of this is thanks to the British efforts back then—spending nearly eight months constructing this shelter, with no modern machinery, 100 feet (about 31 meters) underground. It consists of 1,300 intersecting tunnels and could accommodate over 8,000 people at once.
In fact, this shelter was once used as military barracks, a shelter for immigrants, and even briefly transformed into a Festival Hotel. Unfortunately, due to its airtight design, it was repurposed as an archive storage facility in the 1990s. Today, its value has been rediscovered, and it is being developed into a new tourist attraction.
The authorities have decided to open guided walking tours on an irregular basis, with ticket sales starting in March. To generate income for preservation, the roundhouse section will be converted into a restaurant called the Blitz Tea Rooms, with construction expected to begin mid-year. For war or history enthusiasts, this tour should be highly anticipated. Check out the details on the London Transport Museum’s official website: www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/hidden-london/clapham-south
Fever Travel has curated a list of nearly 50 must-visit attractions in London. Want to know what’s on the list? Check it out here: http://www.dcfever.com/travel/sightseeing.php?id=2285